Filmmaker Pleads Guilty In Fraud

March 22, 1986|By M. Anthony Lednovich, Staff Writer

Filmmaker Michael Franzese, a reputed Mafia member, pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges and will also enter guilty pleas in Florida to state charges he masterminded the theft of $40 million in state and local gasoline taxes, according to a plea agreement entered Friday in a Brooklyn courtroom.

Franzese, 36, also agreed to forfeit $14.7 million in cash and holdings. Of that amount, $10 million will be divided between New York, New Jersey and Florida as partial reimbursement for stolen gas tax revenues.

Franzese also agreed to forfeit a minimum of $1 million in proceeds from the movie Knights of the City, a film shot entirely in Miami and Fort Lauderdale during the summer of 1984.

Franzese, a reputed captain in the New York Colombo crime family, entered the guilty pleas before U.S. District Judge Eugene Nickerson. He was sentenced to 10 years on charges of racketeering in connection with credit card fraud and insurance fraud stemming from his activities in New York.

He also pleaded guilty to income tax fraud.

Under the terms of the pleas, Franzese also will plead guilty to racketeering charges in Florida in connection with the gasoline tax thefts. His Florida sentence will run concurrently with the federal sentence.

Franzese also agreed to forfeit all of the assets of Miami Gold Productions, the film company responsible for Knights of the City.